Testimony

It's testimony Tuesday in my church's mission week and we've all been challenged to share something of our stories with our friends, family and anyone who knows us. So here goes!

I grew up going to church and God was always very real to me. I made my own decision to be a Christian; it wasn't something my parents could do for me. I knew I wanted to give my life to God and live for Him.

If I was to sum up what it means to me to be a Christian it would be this: saved by grace to be part of God's community. It's nothing to do with anything good I may or may not have done, it's about the fact that Jesus died for my sins so I can be forgiven.

Being a Christian isn't a one off decision, it's a path you have to walk day by day; it's in every choice you make: do you do things your way or God's way? I definitely do not always make the right choices but I'm thankful that He is working in me everyday to change me and make me more like Jesus Christ.

It's not always easy being a Christian - you have to make some hard choices and you need to listen to God and be directed by His plan and priorities rather than what everyone else is doing, but I can definitely tell you that being a Christian is the best decision I ever made. My life has a clear purpose and I found what I was made for: to know the God who made me and to know who Jesus is in a really personal way. I'm so excited about one day seeing Him face to face.

Maybe you sometimes wonder about what will happen when you die or whether there really is a God. We are made to know God and something within us nudges us to find out more about Him. He has done everything to make it possible for us to know him: you can read all about it in the Bible. Why don't you try reading the gospel of Luke, it's pretty short and would not take you very long but maybe you might find the things you thought about Jesus weren't based on the truth or the real Jesus as we see in the Bible.

I am so blessed to be part of Hill City Church and every week we sing songs and look at the Bible together. I always learn something new and God is very present with us as we learn more about Him together. The church is my family and being part of this community is amazing. It gives me a taste of what heaven will be like: no fluffy clouds and harps, but a mass of people from all different places worshipping God together. We meet every Sunday morning at 11 a.m. in Pontnewynydd Methodist Church, why don't you come and join us and see for yourself?

Thank you for reading this and do you ask me any questions you have. I'd love to talk to you more about being a Christian and what you think about it.

Suffering in Ministry: Following Paul's example

The apostle Paul gives us an amazing example of someone who followed Christ faithfully in a ministry that was full of suffering. Although he had the joy of planting churches and pioneering gospel work in places where Christ was not known, he also had the hardship of opposition constantly throughout his ministry. Using the book of Acts and Paul's letters in the New Testament, we can build a detailed picture of what his ministry life was like. It certainly wasn't glamorous or free from pain. He faced jealousy from the Jews, who often rejected him (see Acts 13-14). He dealt with deceit and imprisonment (Acts 16), and also had to fend off the false teaching of fake apostles in places where the church was young and fragile (see his letter to the Galatians).

Before Paul was converted, he sought to imprison Christians and even watched Stephen die as a martyr for his faith (Acts 7). So when he became a believer after a dramatic encounter with Christ (Acts 9), he knew that his life would be endangered. Although Acts ends with Paul continuing with a growing ministry, he was martyred in Rome some time later.

Here's what he wrote about his sufferings in ministry:

'To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world – right up to this moment. I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children. Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me. For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.' (1 Cor 4:11-17)

The scum of the earth! Paul could not have been in ministry for the fame and fortune. Through his suffering he was able to prove his authenticity as an apostle, and when we suffer in ministry, it gives us a similar opportunity to prove how real our faith is to a watching world. Paul urges the Corinthians to imitate him, because his way of life was consistent with his teaching. That's a huge challenge to anyone in ministry! At any point, you should be able to urge your church to imitate you, because you walk the talk. Whether you urge them to or not, they will still be photocopying your lifestyle.

Look at what Paul writes in another letter:

'Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have laboured and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak?' (2 Cor 11:24-29)

In all of these pressures on Paul in his ministry, he was made to feel his weakness constantly. But, as he goes on to write, God wants His servants to serve Him in weakness, because then they rely on His strength. Paul writes,

'I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.' (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

When we suffer and we're in ministry, we can't just wish God would take all the pain away so we can 'get on with the job'. Suffering is part of ministry, part of the call, because it's an integral part of following Christ. We have to learn to trust in His grace despite our weakness. I'm challenged by Paul's example, as I see him
☻ constantly in prayer - his weakness driving him to the Lord, not to despair (1 Thess 5:16-18)
☻ taking joy in the gospel - seeing it bear fruit despite his personal suffering (Col 1:6)
☻ rejoicing in the finished work of Christ - knowing his salvation didn't depend on his ministry efforts (Phil 3:7-12)
☻ trusting that Christ is coming - the day of suffering will come to an end (1 Thess 3:13)
☻ persevering in preaching, teaching and discipling - passing on the baton (2 Tim 1:13-14)
☻ praising God's wisdom - understanding that we don't always understand God's ways (Rom 11:33-36)

Let's imitate Paul as he imitates Christ, and call on those around us to do so too.

An analogy... old covenant vs new covenant, law vs grace

Thinking here about the old covenant and the new covenant.

We give kids toy cars to play with. They can look pretty realistic -obviously smaller than the real thing. Ultimately, toy cars are hollow; they have no engine. The best you're going to get is a battery remote control one.

The law of the old covenant is like a toy car. It represents the life God wants His people to live but in miniature. We know from Jesus' ministry that the law was not meant to be used as an excuse for divorce, or for people to be self-congratulatory because they had tithed the correct amount of mint. And when your relationship with God is nothing more than law-keeping, it's not really a relationship. It's legalism.

When you get your license and you start driving a real car, those toy cars soon get put into perspective. They were right for a time, but nothing is like the real thing. The immense feeling of freedom you get behind the wheel - that's like life with God, not under law but grace. Immensely liberating.

The toy car resembles the real thing, but cannot power itself. With the Holy Spirit living in us, we have the power to say no to fleshly dsires and live a life of godliness (see 2 Peter 1). We're not needing all the ritual that came with the law - Jesus fulfilled it. We don't need anymore sacrifice. But in our desire to be godly, our quest for holiness, we should have even more zeal than the Pharisees, and hopefully more evidence of sanctification as we seek to grow by grace.

'For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.' John 1:17

The phrase here 'grace and truth' reflects the language of Exodus 34:6, which speaks of the steadfast love (hesed) and faithfulness ('emet) of God in His covenant faithfulness to His people. John is therefore saying that Jesus is the ultimate expression of God's covenant faithfulness (ESV study notes).

In the new covenant, our relationship with God is brought to life, from the stone tablets of law to the heartbeat of grace.

'For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.' Rom 10:4

'a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ' Gal 2:16

'But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.' Gal 5:18

Lies we believe about sin

It's easy to listen to that voice in your head instead of the truth of Scripture. Here's three lies we may get trapped into believing, instead of the reality of being in Christ.

1. "I'm a good person". OK most Christians admit that they are a sinner, but how often is that just a technicality? Really, we see ourselves as basically upright citizens who actually do a lot of good things... Essentially we believe that we are good people just like any non-Christian who gives to charity and does his neighbour a favour every now and then. The problem with this lie is that at its heart, it's comparative. What do we base the fact that we are 'good' on, except for being able to find someone who seems 'worse'? But labelling ourselves as 'good', we are thinking about the people who are easy to label as 'bad' - the prostitutes, the swindlers. But oh wait, those guys, those 'bad' people, those real 'sinners', are the ones Jesus was always hanging out with! (see Luke 15:1-2) It's the elder brother vs the prodigal (read the rest of Luke 15). If you're not the humbled sinner coming home, you're susceptible to be the wrongly aggrieved one standing in the background with arms folded. You'll miss out on the joy of grace and the party. And this standpoint has just as much sin in it as the colourful history of the prodigal; it just looks different. As JI Packer writes in 'Respectable Sins': 'every sin that we commit, even the subtle sin we don't even think about, was laid upon Christ as He bore the curse of God in our place.' We can't start 'grading' sins. The truth is that even our 'righteousness' is as filthy rags before a holy God (Isaiah 64:6).

2. "My sin doesn't matter, I'm saved by grace." Perhaps we get flippant sometimes because we know God will forgive us. Look at what Paul writes in Romans 6:

'Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.' (Rom 6:1-4)

To wilfully keep on sinning means we haven't really understood the gospel, and we have to realise that sin has a hardening effect on our hearts. Read Hebrews 6 for a sobering reminder of the result of apostasy: being cut off from God. A true fear of God will lead us to obedience. We can have no assurance of our salvation if we live lives that are unchanged by the gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit.

3. "I can't beat this sin." Going back to Romans 6, Paul says that we are 'set free from sin' (v7). This is not to say we attain sinless perfection this side of glory, but it does mean that we now have power NOT to sin, whereas before we were sinners, in darkness, and without the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives to sanctify us. It is possible for us to say no to sin, not in human strength but by being 'strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might' (Eph 6:10). Sometimes the reason we aren't seeing victory over sin is because we haven't confessed to others and asked for prayer and accountability.

So there you have it, three lies we get duped into believing about sin. It's only the truth of Jesus in His Word that sets us free, so learn some key Scriptures which will help you fight this battle.

Why did the Reformation happen?

I'm currently studying Reformation Church History, so I'm hoping to post on this topic to help me to understand and revise it.

The Reformation was a huge change within the Church in the C16th. Whereas the Church during the medieval era was led universally by the Pope, the Reformation marked a separation between "Protestants" and "Roman Catholics". Many people today complain about the division of the Christian church, and many non-religious people find the number of Christian denominations overwhelming. How can one faith cause so many arguments, serious conflict and even wars? Why can't Christians just belong to one church globally?

In looking at why the Reformation happened, these issues become very important. Was Martin Luther simply a man with an axe to grind against the pope and Catholic authorities? Was John Calvin a heartless leader who relentlessly pursued for his own interpretation of the Bible to be accepted?

To start with, both the Catholic church today as well as the Protestants admit to various problems within the pre-Reformation Church. Christianity dominated the world all over the Roman empire, and part of the method of the medieval church to "convert" pagans was to incorporate some of their festivals, practices and superstitions into Christianity. Our main Christian festivals, Christmas and Easter, are timed with the pagan festivals which used to be celebrated at these times of year. Priests would chant and bless various objects or places much like a witch casting a spell, and so increasingly lay people were confused as to how to distinguish between "magic" (which was forbidden) and legitimate religion.

Another major problem within the medieval church was corruption. The huge influence and wealth of the church had made it a lucrative business for men to pose as holy friars and keep several mistresses. The practice of indulgences was widely used and many priests abused the trust of poor peasants who were desperate to avoid purgatory or help their loved ones get to heaven.

After Luther's 95 Theses were nailed to the door in Wittenberg, the Catholic church underwent a "reformation" of its own, to deal with the abuses of authority and to tighten up the discipline system of church leaders.

However, the major concern of the Reformation was not church practices, but doctrine. Because doctrine (beliefs and teachings) was the root cause of many of the practices which the reformers spoke against. And key elements of doctrine are the reason why Catholics and Protestants are divided to this day.

The disputed doctrine is not simply a secondary issue of robes or no robes, candles or no candles. The big question of the Reformation was:

How can human beings find salvation and be accepted by God?

The medieval church had come to the understanding that humans were fallen and sinful, but rational and able to respond to God through reason. Life as a Christian, to them, was all about receiving God's grace and doing your best to love God and your neighbour. They believed God would grant eternal life as a just reward for this. Mystics also emphasised religious, spiritual experience.

Martin Luther, through studying the book of Romans in the New Testament, came to the understanding that God's righteousness is His gift to humankind. He has acted to rescue sinners and bring them justification. Salvation is something God has already done for us, outside us, in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Luther realised, after all his soul-searching and rigorous cycle of confession and penance, that humans cannot earn their own salvation. This has been achieved for us through Jesus Christ's death on the cross. Our proper response is to believe, and the experience of the Christian life is one of struggle, as our sinful nature battles against our new identities as children of God.

For Luther, the Reformation had to happen, because the eternal destiny of souls depended on it. If people did not know the liberating truth of the gospel, they would die without knowing Christ. They may attend church every week, but if they didn't understand GRACE (God's Riches At Christ's Expense), then they had no real hope. Luther tried to avoid conflict but it became impossible for him to stay silent. The far-reaching implications of his discovery were only just becoming apparent.

Why were the Israelites exiled out of the Promised Land?

I've been putting together my notes for OT2 and this is such a huge question, covering all of the Former Prophets.

1. Rebellion against the Lord.

This began even as Moses led them out of Egypt: 'the whole community grumbled' (Ex 16:2). They spent 40 years in the wilderness because of this!

At the end of the book of Joshua, he gives the people a strong reminder that they need to obey the Law (Josh 23:6). If they fail, the consequence will be exile:
'If you violate the covenant of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, and go and serve other gods... the Lord's anger will burn against you, and you will quickly perish from the good land He has given you.' (Josh 23:16).

During the time of the Judges, as Joshua's generation dies, 'another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what He had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals.' (Judges 2:10-11). Consequently, they were routed by their enemies and God raised up Judges to save them. 'Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshipped them.' (Judges 2:17)

Even the Judges themselves were dubious heroes; Gideon lacked decisive faith and made a golden ephod which became a snare to Israel, Jephthah made a rash vow which resulted in him killing his own daughter, and Samson's life was full of compromise instead of being a true Nazirite.

The ending of the book shows moral chaos in the gruesome story of the Levite and his concubine, which threatens to destroy the unity of Israel by causing civil war and the near cutting-off of the Benjaminites.

2. Lack of godly leadership.

The chaos in Judges is attributed to the fact there is no king; 'everyone did as they saw fit' (Judges 21:25).
The people in 1 Samuel demand a king. As Samuel presents Saul to them, he gives them a solemn warning:
'if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the Lord your God- good! But if you do not obey the Lord, and if you rebel against His commands, His hand will be against you.' (1 Sam 12:14-15)

No sooner is Saul declared king than he goes against God's Word and offers up the burnt offering himself instead of waiting for Samuel, the priest. Samuel tells him that because of this his kingdom will not ensure and God has sought out 'a man after his own heart' (1 Sam 13:14). Saul repeatedly tries to do things his own way, instead of obeying God. In the rest of 1 Samuel, we see his deterioration into madness, paranoia and murderous thoughts towards David, despite David's righteous conduct and refusal to touch the Lord's anointed (see 1 Sam 24).

When David finally becomes king, and he is the best of the kings, he commits adultery and murder in a terrible sequence of events (2 Sam 11).

The majority of the kings in 1 & 2 Kings commit terrible acts in the eyes of the Lord, and lead the whole nation into apostasy. Ahab, king of Israel, did more evil than all before him (1 Kings 16:30). He and his wife Jezebel persecute Elijah and install Baal worship as the norm. Even after the glorious display of God's power at Mt Carmel, they remain unchanged.

3. Ignoring the Prophets.

Not only does the dramatic revelation of the reality of God as Lord leave Ahab unmoved, but repeatedly he is shown to ignore and despise God's prophets.

In one incident, a prophet comes to tell him that God will give him victory over Ben-Hadad (King of Aram), and Ahab decides to let the king go. In another incident, Ahab desires Naboth's vineyard (which, according to the distribution of the land and to the inheritance laws, he had no right to claim), and allows Jezebel to have Naboth killed so that he can seize it. Elijah comes to rebuke him for this dreadful action, and Ahab greets the prophet by calling him his 'enemy' (1 Kings 21:20). God says through Elijah 'you have aroused my anger and have caused Israel to sin' (1 Kings 21:22), and the incredible thing is that Ahab does then humble himself. In great mercy, God decides to bring disaster upon Ahab's son instead of Ahab himself.

And yet how much has Ahab really changed? Not much it seems, because when the godly king Jehoshaphat of Judah comes to help him against the king of Aram, Jehoshaphat insists upon seeking counsel from a 'prophet of the Lord', not just a phoney prophet who says whatever the king wants to hear. Ahab acknowledges that there is a true prophet, but he hates him because he never prophesies anything good about him (1 Kings 22:8). Jehoshaphat's reply 'The king should not say such a thing' highlights how wrong Ahab's attitude is towards the prophets and thus towards God, as the prophets speak God's Word to him.

4. Forgetting the Law.

In Josiah king of Judah's day, the Book of the Law is found as they repair the temple. This is a sad indication of how God's Word has been forgotten over the reigns of so many godless kings. Josiah is a great reformer, but he recognises that it is too late: they stand under God's wrath for disobeying His commands (2 Kings 22:13), which the prophet Huldah confirms.

5. Lack of godly parenting.

'Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen... Teach them to your children and to their children after them.' Deut 4:9

Closely linked to the people forgetting the Law is the fact that parents were not training their children in the ways of the Lord, and this is why there was so much moral chaos and apostasy.

Even the God-fearing men were at fault here: Eli was challenged by God ('why do you honour your sons more than Me?' 1 Sam 2:29) and David did not have effective control of his family- the incident of Amnon raping his half-sister Tamar, and David's lack of decisive action to intervene which causes Absalom to act in bloody vengeance, is a prime example of this (2 Sam 13).

6. God keeps His covenant promise.

God had made it clear that if Israel were not obedient, He would send them into exile. That is why the exile happened.

'Therefore the Lord rejected all the people of Israel; He afflicted them and gave them into the hands of plunderers, until He thrust them from His presence.' 2 Kings 17:20


And yet, in all of this, there is hope in God's grace. Not all the kings were bad (Josiah and Hezekiah stand out as really godly leaders), and Isaiah prophesies the future fall of Sennacherib (king of Assyria) in 2 Kings 19, and reminds the people that God is in control:
'Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it. In days of old I planned it; now I have brought it to pass.' v25

Do Christians have to keep the Law?

Recently I've been studying the first five books of the Old Testament (the Pentateuch) for an exam. One of the past questions was concerned with how the 10 Commandments relate to the New Covenant, which Christians are under. I've always found this issue really hard to get my head around, so this post is very much my current musings.

Covenant: Old and New

The concept of covenant is very prominent in the Pentateuch. By creating the world, God committed Himself to it. But after the rebellion of mankind and the Flood, God chose to make a covenant with Noah to never again destroy the world by flooding. (Gen 9:11) After the building of the tower at Babel, and God's subsequent scattering of mankind and confusion of languages, God chose to make a covenant with Abraham:
'I will make you into a great nation... I will make your name great... all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.' (Gen 12:2-3)

This covenant was eventually fulfilled in Jesus Christ. He was a descendant of Abraham (Matt 1:1), and through His death on the cross and resurrection, He offers all people on earth the blessing of being reconciled with God, and an eternity in heaven. Paul explains this in the book of Galatians:
'Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you." So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.' Gal 3:7-9

430 years after God made His covenant with Abraham, Moses led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt (by this time they had indeed become a 'great nation' as God had promised), and at Mount Sinai God made a covenant with Israel as a nation. He gave them the 10 Commandments and a covenant code to follow (these are detailed in Exodus and Leviticus). In Deuteronomy, just as Israel are poised to enter the promised land after 40 years of rebellion in the wilderness, Moses gives three speeches which outline to Israel the options laid before them:

• Obey God's commands and be blessed and stay in the land (Deut 4:40)
  
• Disobey God's commands and be cursed and exiled from the land (Deut 4:26-27)
  

The problem was, and this is really what the rest of the Old Testament is about, that Israel could not obey God's commands. They repeatedly turned against God, and so they were indeed sent into exile. Even when a remnant returned, the same mistakes were made, and the latter prophets such as Malachi preached about the rebellion of the people and urged them to turn back to God.

This, then, is where the concept of the New Covenant comes in. Jeremiah prophesies that there will come a time when God will put His laws into men's minds and hearts, and remember their sins no more (Jer 31). The writer of Hebrews explains that this time has now come: it was inaugurated through Jesus Christ's ministry.

Jesus fulfilled the law of Moses by sacrificing Himself once, for all. His innocent death was the high price necessary to pay for our sins. His blood was shed to cleanse mankind from past, present and future sins, if men claim it for themselves through faith.

'When Christ came as high priest... He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.' (Hebrews 8:11-15)

The 'new covenant', then, is the promise of God that all who believe in Jesus can receive forgiveness through His blood. (see Rev 7:15) Christians do not have to offer up animal sacrifices as the Israelites did, because Jesus' sacrifice was enough. The animal sacrifices of the law of Moses were a shadow of the greater reality of Christ that was to come. For believers before Christ came, sacrifices were a God-given means of forgiveness through His covenant with Israel. They were made valid before God on the basis of Christ's future sacrifice (note that the Old Testament itself recognises that the blood of bulls did not take away sin; God graciously forgave the one who offered the sacrifice if their heart was genuinely repentant and seeking Him -see Ps 51:16 and Hosea 6:6).

The essence of the Gospel

The Christian message is this: that everyone has sinned and turned against God in their heart, and consequently is under God's judgement. So God sent His Son Jesus to earth, to live a perfectly obedient life, and to die an innocent death, so that the price for our redemption could be paid. If we want to escape God's punishment, we need to believe in Jesus and trust that He took our punishment for us. We can be credited with His righteousness through faith in Him.

The Gospel in the Old Testament

Now that message wasn't really 'new' with Jesus' coming to earth. In fact, as Paul points out in Romans and Galatians, God's people have always been saved through faith rather than works. Abraham believed and it was credited as righteousness to him. (Gen 15:6) Also, the prophets looked towards Jesus' coming and Isaiah famously predicted that God's Servant would take on Himself the punishment for our sins:

'But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.' (Isaiah 53:5-6)

What, then, was the point of the law?

The law had two purposes:
1. To guide God's people in how they should live, at a time when believers did not have the Holy Spirit dwelling within them
2. To expose the fact that men can never perfectly live up to God's standards

The problem with the law, as James explains, was that if you kept all of it except one point, you were guilty of all of it and condemned (James 2:10). Jesus said that the most important commandments were 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength' and 'Love your neighbor as yourself' (Mark 12:29-31, quoting Deut 6:5-6). No one can ever keep these perfectly- hence why Jesus challenged the rich ruler who claimed he had kept all the commandments to:

'Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.' (Luke 18:22)

It was obvious that the ruler was not loving God and his neighbour with all his heart, because he walked away with sadness, unable to relinquish his great wealth.

The law then, as Paul writes, 'was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.' (Gal 3:24-25)

So do Christians have to keep the Law?

Finally I'm coming round to this crucial question. The answer is that Christians do not have to keep the Law in order to be saved.

'All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law." Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith." ...Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.' (Gal 3:10-14)

We are justified through Jesus Christ, not the things that we do. Jesus Christ was the only man to ever keep the law perfectly. He kept it perfectly FOR us. When we have faith in Him, His perfect righteousness becomes ours (see 1 Cor 1:30). God chooses not to see our filthy sins, but Christ's perfection, and that is how we can be accepted into heaven.

The Law has no power to save us, because it cannot give us the strength we need to obey it. It is not life-giving, but brings death and condemnation because we cannot keep it.
'the written code kills, but the Spirit gives life' (2 Cor 3:6)

But, as Christians who are saved by grace and given God's Holy Spirit, the Law and the Old Testament are helpful to us in revealing God's character and how He wants us to live.

'Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law.' (Gal 3:21)

It is important to stress that the law is in no way morally deficient. It is not primitive as some may suggest, but it perfectly reveals God's standards and holiness. The ceremonial laws (concerning food to eat and clothes to wear and sacrifices to be made etc) clearly do not apply to Christians, because the New Testament explains that these were fulfilled in Christ and Christians are not like Israel, a physical nation in one physical place separate from other peoples. (see Acts 10) Israel was chosen to be 'a kingdom of priests and a holy nation' (Ex 19:6) in the physical region of Palestine, whereas Christians are 'a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God' (1 Pet 2:9) who are sent out into all the world to make disciples of all nations (Matt 28).

The 10 Commandments, as TD Alexander suggests, are fundamental principles of life in covenant with God, universal and timeless. Whilst our salvation does not depend on how well we can obey God, Christians should desire to please God by living to glorify Him. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus expounded what keeping the 10 Commandments really means: not looking at someone lustfully, not feeling angry with your brother in your heart... It's much more than simply not sleeping with another man's wife, or stabbing someone in the chest. The Pharisees tended to do the bare minimum when it came to the law and think they were right with God, but actually Jesus said that the Tax Collector who declares his sinfulness and repents is more in the right with God than a self-righteous religious man. (see Luke 18:13)

If we strive to bring all areas of our life under God's rule, and stay humble to realise that we will never be acceptable to God through the things that we do, then we shall respond rightly to God's grace to us in Jesus.

Gideon Part 1

Judges 6

The story of Gideon is really remarkable. God punishes the people for turning away from Him, but graciously helps them once they turn back and cry for help.

Gideon doesn't seem to have much faith- he questions where God is in all the misfortunes of Israel, he questions God's command for him to lead the people and he obeys God's command to take down the Baal altar in the dark, because he fears the reaction from others.

In all of this, God marvellously and graciously works to ensure His purposes are fulfilled. He even grants Gideon's requests for the fleece to be wet, then dry, to give him reassurance. God loves His people so much that He does all of this. How amazing!

Judges: worth reading?

Judges has to be one of the most violent, gory and shocking books of the Old Testament. It gives us the famous stories of Gideon and Samson, and yet even these heroic stories are blotted by the flaws of these figures. Gideon is a man who repeatedly doubts God's promises, and his fleece experiments are definitely not an example for us to follow! Samson is meant to be delivering Israel from the Philistines, and yet lets his sexual desires over-rule his calling as he marries a Philistine woman, and later tells Delilah the secret of his strength.

So what is the value of Judges for Christians today? Well, it DOES have value- it is part of the Word of God for starters, and 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that all Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking and training in righteousness. Judges probably tells us more what NOT to do than provide positive examples, but it is no less worthy of our attention because of this.

Judges also testifies to the extraordinary faithfulness of God. To put it into context, God has led the Israelites out of slavery to Egypt, and into the promised land. Joshua, their leader after Moses, dies, and not long after this the people begin to do exactly what they were told NOT to do. They do not drive out the other nations completely or break down their pagan altars. God's angel tells them that these nations will be 'thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a snare to you' (3). The people weep and offer sacrifices, but it is a sad fact that 'another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what He had done for Israel.' (10) Despite the Exodus and establishment of Israel in the promised land, the covenant and the law, they STILL forget God.

As soon as the Israelites worship other gods, they lose their security and are plundered by raiders. But in His mercy, God raises up judges who save them from these raiders (16). The cycle of disobedience and grace, establishing way back in Genesis 3, continues... And yet God is still loving, caring and involved in the lives of His people.

For us as Christians, we perhaps need reminding of why we need the cross of Jesus so much, and why it was such an amazing act of grace for God to send His Son into a world that had rejected Him from its very creation. Judges gives us a horrifying picture of life without God, and motivates us to cling to Jesus, a Saviour who (unlike the flawed judges) brings us perfect relationship with God.

A big mess-up

Lessons from David: 2 Samuel 11-12
Things were going so well for David. He was experiencing the fulfilment of God's promises to him (he had rest on every side from his enemies), and was leading Israel to victory in every battle (through God's grace). The problem with things going well is that we become complacent and arrogant. This seems to have happened to David.

He decides not to go off with the other kings to battle, but to have a rest at home. And the story is well-known: he views Bathsheba bathing, orders for her to be brought to him, sleeps with her, then tries to deal with her subsequent pregnancy by giving her husband too much wine and trying to make him go home to sleep with her. When Uriah refuses to do so, David arranges for him to be killed in battle. He abuses his power as king to take something that is not rightfully his.

Nathan's parable illustrates the selfishness and brutality of David's actions. Faced with the ugliness of his sin, he repents- but must take the consequences (his son's death).

God's grace, though, is shown in His desire to forgive David. The incident shows us how perfect Jesus is by comparison, why He is our true King, and reminds us that we can't hide our sin from God. The best thing to do when we have big mess-ups is to go straight to Him and ask for forgiveness. The spiral of sin David found himself in is one that we are all susceptible to.

Psalm 34: Experiencing God's goodness

Lessons from David- Psalm 34

'I will extol the Lord at all times,' David cries (1), because 'I sought the Lord, and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears.' (4)

The context for this Psalm (David's encounter with Abimelech, when he feigned madness and managed to escape) shows that it is a testimony of a time where David sought God and God answered. It is an experience of God's goodness that leaves David jumping for joy with praise to God, despite his otherwise troublesome situation (being on the run from Saul).

And what is the point of our faith unless we experience God's grace for ourselves? Unless the joy of being in a relationship with Jesus penetrates our attitude and daily life, we can have no true faith.

This psalm calls us to experience God's goodness personally:
'Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him' (8).

Note that it says 'takes refuge'- that implies that things will be difficult for us. We will have troubles, and we will need refuge. Experiencing God's goodness is not, then, about having a sunny problem-free existence, but about coming to God in the bad times as well as the good, and still praising Him- because there is always something to praise God for.

The Bible gives us great promises that are REAL! We can know God's grace now and even this side of heaven, we can discover that 'those who fear Him lack nothing... no good thing' (9-10).

We need to turn from evil and do good (14) if we want to know true blessing, but the best thing is that the Lord redeems us. No matter how sinful we are, 'no-one will be condemned who takes refuge in Him' (22). This is the amazing truth of the Gospel.

Avoiding the spiritual barometer (Review of Terry Virgo's 'God's Lavish Grace')

Ever had a week like this:
Sunday- go to church, sing joyful songs of praise, hear an encouraging and challenging sermon about fighting sin, leave with renewed resolution to obey God and beat temptation.
Monday- make time to read the Bible and pray, fight with sin going well, feel close to God.
Tuesday- managed to scan over a Bible passage before running for the bus, feel flustered but still trying to live whole-heartedly for God.
Wednesday- busy day, no time to pray, feeling weak.
Thursday- give in to temptation, feel like a rubbish Christian.

And so it goes on.

In this commentary, the person constantly measures their spiritual success by their own achievements or failures. If they made time to pray, they feel good about where they stand with God. If they mess up, they feel ashamed. To them, the way God sees them fluctuates like a spiritual barometer. When they're doing well, He's smiling. When they're not, He's angry.

Terry Virgo's book 'God's Lavish Grace' is a fantastic smash-down to this way of thinking, which ensnares so many Christians today.

Virgo's main point is that Jesus has obtained a place for us to stand in grace, a place of total acceptance and security. He goes through the book of Romans to demonstrate that
'they which receive abundance of grace... shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.' Rom 5:17

Therefore your daily walk with God is not about your spirituality or performance, but about your position in Christ.

Christ's unchanging righteousness is yours every day and is not in the least dependent on your feelings or your performance!

God has not called us to a life of slavery but one of overcoming. We need to KNOW that the blood of Christ is sufficient to cleanse us from every sin (past, present and future); the cross is ENOUGH for us to be forgiven. We can't earn God's approval by our 'good deeds'. On the cross, Jesus said, 'It is finished.' (John 19:30) He dealt with our sin completely. All that is left for us to do is to rejoice in the fact that we are totally accepted by God through Jesus, and then live a life liberated to serve Him, with the empowering help of the Spirit to fight sin.

Virgo's conversational style is engaging and uplifting as he opens up the life-changing truth of God's Word in this book. He shows us how susceptible we are to rely on our own amazingness rather than God's amazingness. He calls us to stop making excuses about human nature and start beating sin out of our lives, because Jesus has given us the freedom NOT to sin. As Christians, we have to believe in that freedom. We can't be fatalistic. We need to sort out sin so that we can properly live up to our status as God's children, and get out there to spread the message of God's lavish grace to a world that desperately needs to hear it.